


Bitter History

by CirrusGrey



Series: A Matter of Diplomacy (Swords and Fire AU) [4]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: M/M, Short, Unhealthy Relationships, mainly to close up a couple of plotholes left after the main fic, teen because the rest of the stories are but this could probably be general audiences, this is literally just 600 words of Elias being a bitter little bastard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:20:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26546650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CirrusGrey/pseuds/CirrusGrey
Summary: Elias has lost. But that doesn’t mean he’s given up.
Relationships: Elias Bouchard/Peter Lukas
Series: A Matter of Diplomacy (Swords and Fire AU) [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1901050
Comments: 24
Kudos: 92





	Bitter History

Elias Buchard was not immortal, nor would he ever be.

He blamed Jonathan for it. The nosy kid who stumbled in from the Spider lands, too curious for his own good, and caught Gertrude's eye.

_ Elias  _ was meant to be her heir.

Instead, the lands had gone to this interloper, this  _ child,  _ who had no interest in the glorious histories of their past. Once, the Eye Lords had been strong, respected as one of the greatest powers in Vaskandar and using that influence to bend the world to their whims. Elias would have made them strong again.

Instead, Jonathan Sims wasted all that power on  _ neutrality. _

And love.

Elias blamed love, too, and by extension Peter. If the bastard hadn’t delayed him after he’d killed Gertrude he’d have been able to beat Jonathan to the claiming sites and become the Eye Lord like he’d planned.

But no, Peter had fallen to his knees and proposed on the spot, while the pistol was still cooling in Elias’s hand. By the time they’d solidified the engagement it was too late, and Jonathan had claimed the land.

He’d hoped to stake a claim in Raverran soil, if the invasion had gone ahead as planned, but even that had been denied to him, by the same man who had stolen his land.

He  _ hated  _ Jonathan Sims.

And so Elias was mortal, and mortal he would stay.

Except, of course, for one small flicker of hope.

There was an empty claim, after all.

Charred, and burned, and blackened, but a claim nonetheless. He’d need to wait, let the forests start to regrow, let life begin to return. He couldn’t wait too long, of course, otherwise some other mage-marked hopeful with dreams of grandeur would make their play at the land. But he could do it.

It wouldn’t be the same as ruling the lands his grandfather had conquered all those centuries ago, but if he couldn’t follow in the footsteps of Jonah Magnus, stealing Nikola Orsinov’s domain was the next best thing.

There wouldn't be any  _ people,  _ of course, there would be very little power, but there would be land, and life, and that was enough. Enough to buy him the time to rebuild, to let the forests grow back, to tempt in people who could bring power to the land and make him strong. It wouldn't be a lot, but it would be  _ enough. _

Enough to survive. Enough so that he wouldn't have to rely on Peter's mercy any longer.

He didn't trust his husband.

Peter had a…  _ strange  _ approach to love. He  _ did _ love Elias, there wasn’t any doubt about that, but… he was the Lord of Solitude, after all. He loved Elias, but he reveled in the fact that Elias was entirely dependent upon him for protection. And in the promise of a broken heart when the only man he had ever loved finally died.

He was almost certain Peter had delayed him claiming the Eye Lord’s lands on purpose.

Beyond immortality and power, there was something delightful in the idea of taking that promise away from Peter: in forcing him to endure Elias’s company forever, in being by his side as eternity washed over them, in never allowing him that solitude he so craved.

Yes, Elias would do whatever it took to claim Orsinov’s lands, if only for the sake of annoying his husband.

It was just a matter of time.


End file.
